Met Police continues clampdown on tool theft across London

Met officers have seized around half a million pounds worth of suspected stolen tools following a proactive policing operation at a car boot sale in east London.

Local officers made six arrests and recovered around 1,500 tools worth £150,000 at the Warren Farm Bonzer Boot Sale in Romford. A further 159 tools were seized during another search at a property in Hackney.

The intelligence-led activity was carried out in response to concerns from tradespeople about tool theft and is part of the Met's continued focus on tackling the crimes that matter most to Londoners.

Inspector Mark Connolly, from the Met's local policing team in east London, said:

"We know tool theft has a significant impact on tradespeople and we're working hard across the Met to tackle it through targeted operations like this and prevention, such as holding tool marking events and issuing advice on keeping vehicles secure.

"While victims have their livelihoods disrupted, organised crime groups are making huge sums of money from selling on suspected stolen tools and we won't stand for it.

"This is the second operation of this kind we've carried out over the past month and we will continue to take action against those who make the lives of Londoners a misery through this type of offending."

Among the items recovered were three surveillance systems used to monitor earth and infrastructure movements each worth more than £30,000, a device used to measure ground depth worth around £20,000, and a motorised heist worth £17,000.

Met officers were also joined by partners including Havering Council's trading standards team at the operation on Thursday, 1 May.

Councillor Ray Morgon, Leader of Havering Council, added:

“This is once again excellent work from our trading standards team working in partnership with police and other partners.

“Illegal and harmful products have been taken off the streets in our borough as a result of this operation. I know there has been a lot of work to get this result, so I thank everyone involved.

“It’s our aim to help keep our residents safe and we want to continue to crackdown on a crime that is often hiding in plain sight in venues such as car boot sales and our town centres. That is why we will continue to take the strongest action we can against those trying to sell these harmful and illegal products and work with the police to bring them to justice.”

Four men and two women, aged between 25 and 60 and from Hackney, Newham and Kent, were arrested on suspicion of handling stolen goods. They have since been bailed while officers carry out further enquiries.

Tradesperson and social media influencer Shoaib Awan, widely known as The Gas Expert, said:

“As a tradesperson who has invested years in education, training and building a business, repeated incidents of tool theft are not only demoralising, but financially crippling, and is forcing many to walk away from their respective trades.

“I fully support the great work the Met Police is doing to crack down on this type of illegal activity and I’ll continue to work with them alongside our partners to bring down the organised crime groups and people who have a complete disregard for the law and their victims."

The activity is part of the Met's continued crackdown on tool theft which last month resulted in around £50,000 worth of suspected stolen tools being recovered from a car boot sale in Rainham.

Officers will work over the coming weeks to identify the tools and trace their original owners.

Any tradespeople or those in possession of power tools are advised to mark their property, take photographs, and record serial numbers so that, in the event of theft, officers have more chance of returning property.

If you suspect anyone of selling stolen or counterfeit goods, you can report this to us online or anonymously to the independent charity Crimestoppers by calling 0800 555 111.